A $35 million project for CHI Health is giving big opportunities to small contractors in Omaha.

CHI Health University campus will be an 80,000-square-foot building on 12 acres of land. Amidst continued efforts across the city to be more inclusive of small business, the project ostensibly is a step in the right direction.

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"This is the very first big project that we have done," Omaha contractor Tina Diaz Ciechomski said.

Ciechomski is one of 16 emerging businesses chosen to work on this project. She said the call that her company had won a bid was a game-changer.

"I was just like, ecstatic, because you know, here's a small business," Ciechomski said. "I've been in business quite a bit of time and here I am now on the job site. Doing this kind of thing is really a great opportunity for us."

The facility, scheduled to open in fall 2016, will replace Creighton University Medical Center. As CHI Health moves out of the current CUMC building, many services will go to Bergen Mercy. However, the new university campus will provide to a wide range of doctors in a clinic setting, a full-service emergency department and a pharmacy to the north Omaha community. Small, local businesses are helping build this piece of the community.

"It means a lot, because it's in my community as well and I'm providing employment opportunities for the guys you see behind me," Mustang Electric's Darrell Coleman said.

The project's general contractor, McCarthy, has used this as an opportunity, mentoring small businesses in hopes they will grow.

"We spend more time with them helping them understand safety, helping them understand quality," senior project manager Ryan Sawall said. "We still want to deliver that high level project for our client."

CUMC President Kevin Nokels said the project feels full circle.

"This is wonderful," he said. "I grew up in a family, my father was a small businessman, so to give the opportunities to people that live and want to work in this area is outstanding."